Best Job I Ever Had

When I used to organise for the Labour Party back in 2017, I would tell people I had the best job in the world and meant it.

Not because of the party. Not because of the policies. Not because of politics.

I had the best job in the world because I worked with volunteers. A cross section of people who cared enough to show up for their community. To put themselves out there, in every door knock and every phone call, to try and build a connection. One strong enough to pull people out of despair, out of apathy and into action.

Most of them had never done it before. Most of them were just like the people you walk past every day on the street. The only different thing about these people was that they had decided they wanted to make a difference. They made the radical decision to simple turn up. Some scared, some weary, most having no idea really what they were getting themselves into. They took the first step anyway and I was lucky to be there, ready to meet them.

When I think about why I loved this work, I think about my Mum. She was a new entrant teacher for most of her professional life. Her favourite thing was teaching kids how to read, she was particularly good at helping those others might have written off. Just ask my teachers about me.

I imagine for Mum, she loved this work because it was handing over power to kids who hadn't fully realised yet all they could be. She'd get to see the spark of recognition in their eyes as the world around them was now wriggling alive with words. A foundational skill, taught well, able to open a world of opportunities. Able to be applied in ways that stretched far beyond her classroom.

That is what organising feels like to me. Teaching volunteers hands them back their power. On the good days, I get to see that spark start to light people up. On the better ones, I see them pass it on. Each person I connect with, then connects with another and together we begin to form a chain. You have power, pass it on.

I get to see people for who they could be. I get to support them to grow there. I get to take the punt. I get to believe in them. If I've done my job right, I've won an election but I've more importantly I've helped create more forces for good.

I last did this job with real intensity back in 2017. That volunteer group has since had two city councillors, living wage and union organisers, community programme facilitators, volunteer managers and lawyers who advocate for our environment and our founding document. I am more proud of them and all the ways they have applied that foundational skill than I am any campaign I've won.

I'm doing this job again now. No longer with Labour but always with people who are ready to try.

It's been two and half weeks. One of my volunteers nearly threw up with nerves on their way to our first phone bank. They have now dialed and knocked over 100 people in our community. They didn't think they could do this. They are starting to understand they can.

They're just one link in the chain of connection we are looping here around Wellington North, my hometown. Pulling together for good.

I will work with them on this campaign. I get to teach them a foundational skill. I get to watch as the world becomes wriggling alive around them. Result or not, I win. Because I have the best job in the world.

With you,
Alice